Cooking Corner By: Bernice Volkens- DRIPLESS POPSICLES

July 12, 2013

This last week I can say Summer is here. You can almost hear it (pitter - patter,( slush and splash) or taste it (hot dogs, lemonade, ice cream). However, most of all you can feel summer - it is in the good times shared, in happy celebrations, and just in fond memories that are found in any summer. Craig was here for three days to take in his class reunion and the Fourth is not just reunions, but for all of us to celebrate in some way. There are patio or deck parties to picnics in the park and tasty backyard barbeques . Then we also have family visits and summer birthdays and a couple of weddings, that mean being away from home for a few days. I always think this summer wasn’t going to be as busy, but it is. You know how the song goes; “summertime and the living is easy”. However, if you take in many town celebrations with all the parades and hub-bub it is far from easy. It was good to look at my calendar for this week and find it wasn’t filled to the brim. This 90 degree heat is really making it feel like summer. It’s time to shift down to the summertime season It’s true summers can be busy, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be more relaxed. Also summers mean the sun. There once was a time when I loved the sun and I know now I spent too much time in the sun. I have a couple of skin cancers I will take care next week and I wish I had heeded some of the precautions so widely heralded today. Over half a million skin cancers are caused by the sun every year and I’m one of those statistics. Startling as that is, the dermatologist told me I didn’t have a to abandon the outdoors, but to use caution when I am in the sun. The overall best safeguard is a good sunscreen and now I use a #15 or above and I try not to be out when the sun is the highest and hottest. I probably wasn’t as aware when my kids were growing up, but I’m always telling my grandkids t o use sunscreen I still enjoy the sun but from experience I’m sun-sensible. A couple of weeks ago I had a recipe for popsicles’ and I especially want to thank the reader who gave me a recipe better than mine. DRIPLESS POPSICLES 1(3 OZ.) package ) Jell-O 1 cup sugar 1 package unsweetened Kool Aid Same Flavor as Jell-O Into a large container put 1 package of Jell-O, 1 package of Kool-Aid, 1 cup sugar, 2 cups hot water. Mix and add 2 cups of cold water. Pour into popsicle trays and freeze. Can pour into small Dixie cups with flat popsicle stick in the middle. They really are dripless and taste as good as store bought. “Three tings cannot be long hidden; the Sun, the Moon and the Truth”—Buddha